WATCH: Svyatoslav Gulin sparks outrage with shocking on-court gestures toward chair umpire in ITF match

A shocking incident took place in the ITF tournament between Svyatoslav Gulin and Alejo Sanchez Quilez on April 29th, 2025. The Russian tennis star was seen making some NSFW gestures towards the umpire in the third set of the game. Thereafter, Gulin was disqualified from the game even though he was holding the edge as compared to his Spanish opponent in the game.

Notably, Gulin was seen as fabulous in the game, as the 407 ATP star player was comfortably ahead and was about to win the match in the third set. The scoreline was 7-5, 3-6, 4-0. However, in the excitement of the moment, as he assumed he would easily win the game, the star player was seen making a wrong gesture towards the umpire after winning a point. Thereafter, he has come to note that it has also uttered some nasty and creepy words.

This behaviour seems to violate the ITF's code of conduct, and he was disqualified from the tournament. However, it still remains unclear what actually prompted the Russian star to make such a gesture on the court, especially to the umpire, especially as he was on the brink of winning the game in the third and deciding set. A video of this incident has been widely shared on social media, which showcases an outburst on the court.

How did the tennis world react to this incident?

Meanwhile, the fans were seen as extremely upset with this incident and criticised him on social media. The tennis fraternity were seen lashing out at him, and some of them strictly demanded his ban from the ATP tours for some time. However, some feel that these things happened in the excitement of winning the match. However, most of them were disappointed, as his gestures were unethical and undisciplined towards the umpire, who did not deserve such creepy and unwanted things during the ongoing game.